


Defying the Opposition

by thescorpiondoctor



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Angst, Cuteness and fluff, Cybertron, Gen, Original Characters - Freeform, Transformers - Freeform, Wartime, a little sniper has to get his act together, best of bros, big bot adopts little bot, dealing with deficits, defying the opposition, everyone is manufactured with a malfunction, everyone underestimates the little guy, made to order soldier, nearsightedness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 23:09:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20786585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thescorpiondoctor/pseuds/thescorpiondoctor
Summary: Useless. Small. Too delicate for the battlefield. Those were some of the first words Clip was ever told about himself the moment he was brought online. The second the made to order soldier opened his optics, he was faced with a world that seemed to big to have him in it. Everything far away made so much more sense than the things up close, and deep down Clip began to wonder if there was something wrong about the way he saw the world. With the help of a tank bot named Barrel and a ragtag crew of other bots, Clip began to rise above the ranks. But can this feisty little sniper ever come to see people as more than just splotches in his vision?





	Defying the Opposition

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Redfire_Dragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redfire_Dragon/gifts).

> When someone is told a lie their whole life, it is often common for them to eventually believe it.

Bots were dying at the front lines. Polter could still hear the screams ringing in his audials as he stepped down the hallway. He was a medium sized bot with mostly square shapes making up his frame, the doorwings gifted to him by his praxian CNA held proudly at an angle. His face was covered by a mask that was molded snugly against his features, built for keeping out residue and contaminants for when he was doing field tests of his weapons. He was a scientist, specializing in weapons and experimental technology. He had not expected to be called to preside over the operations of bringing new soldiers online, in fact, he felt quite unsuited for the job. However the white and gold bot had been given his orders, and he knew that if he were ever to return to working on his phase cannon, he would have to comply with orders regardless of how inadequate he felt about carrying out the task at hand. As he stepped into the room in which the newly forged soldiers were being brought online, his processor was already running through all the calculations on how everything could go wrong. 

Polter continued to drag his pedes down the hall even as he reached the entryway to his destination. There was a chill in the room.One could have cut the tension in the air with a knife. It was like there was an invisible thread pulled so tightly it was on the verge of snapping hanging in the middle of it all. The atmosphere of silence was deafening, the lack of sound itself ringing in the newly forged bot’s audials being the first thing that made him aware of the world. He was a scrawny little thing, quite pathetic really, but the autobots had been short on supplies lately and the made to order sniper did not have to be tanky or even well armored to carry out his function. Huge buggy optics surveyed the area, the newly forged bot’s face twisted into an expression of confusion and surprise. The skinny little bot’s optics were so large compared to most, as if they were giant blue portals into a whole other dimension. The two curved, squarish metal flaps attached to the bot’s helm raised in curiosity the second his audials picked up a sound among the silence as Polter let out an awkward little sigh. 

The MTO’s head instantly swiveled in the direction of the sound, staring directly at where it had come from. Maybe they were imagining it, but as the newly constructed bot looked at them, Polter felt alienated by its gaze. It was as if it was not looking at him, but past him, staring into the space where he obviously was and yet not seeing anything. That couldn’t have been right. This particular model had been built with perfect vision for long distances, and its vision was supposed to be just as excellent up close as it was for far away. 

“Look at me-” Polter shakily stated, unsure of how to talk to a bot so fresh off the assembly line. He sighed again and flipped up his welding mask, gesturing to his white and gold plating. Under his mask, he had a stern face and weary yet kind optics as he looked at the newly built bot. He tried to soften his gaze as the newly built bot stared at him, hoping his expression would help put the young bot at ease. 

The newly forged soldier continued to stare in the scientist’s direction, the little antennae on its helm pointing in the direction of the sound of the mech’s voice. It certainly seemed to have excellent hearing, although the rings in its optics didn’t seem to be dilating properly. There was something wrong with that one, the scientist just knew it. Before he could move any closer to the brand new bot however, a voice thundered through the doorway as footsteps carried in none other than the resident general who was stationed over everyone at that base. 

“WHERE ARE MY SOLDIERS? I WANT SNIPERS COVERING MY MEN AS SOON AS PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE. GET THESE BOTS TO THEIR BRIEFING! STAT!”

Resonant was a towering mech, built to the dentas and digits for war. Every inch of him was armored. The general had weapons implanted into nearly every part of his frame, and even one the patch over one of his optics had a tiny pellet shooter and scope built in. He was just beastly in appearance, covered in scars and scuffs from previous battles. His underbite of a lower jaw was misaligned from when he had had his face bashed in by a decepticon. He’d been given the option of reconstructive surgery, but supplies were so scarce that the mech had passed on the opportunity so the patching material could be used on bots with more life threatening injuries. His scarred hide was a mottled complexion of pale steely gray with flakes of vile pale green paint peeling off here and there. On top of it all, he had painted asymmetrical lines of vibrant energon blue on his face and around his arms. Spines and sharp edges protruded from his massive shoulders. His remaining optic was sunken in, his gaze cold and nearly lifeless. 

There was a sense of urgency in Resonant’s voice. Polter cringed. How was it physically possible for one bot, even one of Resonant’s size, to make so much noise? The newly forged MTO cringed too, the metal flaps on his helm flattening against the metal of his head. It swiveled its head and glared at the sound, its antennae thrumming in agitation. 

“I don’t like the way this one is looking at me.” Resonant growled, storming into the room and looming over the skinny little MTO. The freshly made bot hissed loudly through his vents, squaring off its shoulders and baring its sharpened canine dentas. 

“Easy- eeeasy-” Polter chided, protectively reaching out a servo towards the MTO and placing it on the bot’s shoulder. The MTO instantly retaliated at the physical contact, swiveling its head around and biting down on Polter’s servo. The gilded white bot howled in pain and surprise, yanking his hand away from the smaller bot’s jaws as the sharpened dentas left two nasty little scrapes in the metal of his servo. 

Resonant lightly backhanded the newly forged bot, sending it sliding across the floor on its aft. “You should do a better job of disciplining them, soldier.” the general harrumphed. “At least that one has some fight in it. Although it’s small… too small. Might be good for squeezing into enemy lines, but useless and delicate otherwise. This one better prove to me it’s not a failure before I end up recycling its sorry little aft.” 

The MTO sat there on the floor, dazed and confused. It hadn’t even seen the blow coming until it had already been hit. It ran the words it was hearing through its processor, its coding quickly latching onto the meanings of the words. Small. Too small. Useless and delicate. The MTO frowned, the winglets on its back flaring out in indignation. ‘I AM NOT!’ its thoughts screamed inside its head, before it could even comprehend that it was having thoughts of its own. The little bot got to its pedes, standing and staring in the direction the blow had come from in utter defiance and fury. That had hurt. It hurt a lot. What the big grey, green, and energon blue splotch in its vision was saying had hurt even more than the physical pain of being smacked across the floor, although it would never admit that to itself. 

“I just got here-! I was in no way a part of that bot’s creation. I’m only here because of orders, and you of all bots should know better than to HIT a newly forged!” Polter growled at the general in protest. Resonant turned on the small white bot, smoke escaping his vents as a growl rose from his engine. 

“You DARE question my JUDGEMENT?!!!” Resonant roared, advancing on Polter like a cat with a bird between its claws. “INSUBORDINATION! Who is your supervisor? I’ll have them know EXACTLY how they are PAMPERING their men! DO NOT SPEAK UNLESS SPOKEN TO, SOLDIER!” He continued, reaching out a heavily armed servo and slamming it down on Polter’s shoulder, leaning down and clenching his jaw, forcing his helm into Polter’s face and pressing his steely forehead against the smaller mech’s.

Polter froze, doorwings drooping slightly as he cringed at Resonant’s touch. “Yes, sir.” He stated. “I did not mean to step out of line.” 

“You would do better next time to remember your place, soldier.” Resonant hissed between his misaligned jaws. 

The MTO got to its feet, its slim digits clenched into fists, its whole body shaking with rage at the situation. “INSUBORDINATION!” It yowled, not yet knowing the meaning of the word. With the way Resonant had yelled it, that word had seemed like the perfect one to use to express its displeasure. 

The MTO’s words distracted Resonant for a moment, long enough for Polter to cautiously free himself from the general’s grip and slip over to a workstation to make it look like he was doing something productive. Resonant stormed over to the tiny soldier, reaching forward and harshly grabbing it by the nape of its neck. “DON’T YOU TAKE THAT TONE WITH ME, SOLDIER!” he bellowed, spitting bits of oil in the MTO’s face. The MTO’s engine let out as fearsome a growl as it could while it made a face at the general. One thing the newly built soldier was certain about was that it hated Resonant with a burning passion. 

Polter looked up from his workstation, reaching out a servo towards Resonant. “Permission to speak, sir?!” he pleaded, door wings wilting against his back as the general glowered in his direction. 

“Permission denied.” Resonant bitterly growled back, storming out of the room with the MTO in his servo, the little bot kicking and squirming in the general’s grasp. 

“Sir-! If I may, we still have to run an initial diagnostics check on that one! And you’re going to break it before the decepticons do if you’re not careful!” One of the other scientists piped up from behind Resonant. 

“SILENCE!” Resonant roared over his shoulder, carrying his prize with utter disdain for the little creature. 

As the door automatically closed behind the general, Polter could only shake his head and sigh. “That one isn’t going to last long out there…. I suspect some sort of greater malfunction. Poor kid’s probably gonna get himself killed the second they toss him on the field. But what do I know. I’m a weapons tech, not a blacksmith or a carrier. I don’t even know why I was ordered to be here in the first place.”


End file.
